{"id":819443,"date":"2026-03-11T18:58:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/819443\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T18:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:58:20","slug":"modern-day-port-sunlight-plans-denied-over-safety-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/819443\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Modern-day Port Sunlight’ plans denied over ‘safety risk’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heath Park was a major regeneration scheme in Liverpool City Region located on the former site of Imperial Chemical Industries, which was approved before being called in by the Secretary of State<\/p>\n

(Image: Runcorn Weekly News)<\/p>\n

A landmark development, once called a ‘beacon project’ for the Liverpool City Region, has been cancelled due to safety concerns. It comes after the original approval for the scheme was called in by central government.<\/p>\n

The application <\/a>was assessed during an inquiry late last year, largely behind closed doors, as the safety concerns raised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) were deemed to contain information relating to “matters of national security”.<\/p>\n

Heath Park was a major regeneration plan located on the former site<\/a> of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), a British manufacturer founded in 1926. ICI was known for producing paints (Dulux), plastics (Perspex), fertilizers, explosives, and pharmaceuticals, before an \u00a38bn takeover by Dutch multinational AkzoNobel in 2008.<\/p>\n

The old ICI headquarters is currently home to The Heath Business and Technical Park which is owned and operated by SOG Ltd, and accommodates more than 100 individual companies, employing approximately 2,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

In March 2020, SOG unveiled its vision to transform the location into \u2018Heath Park\u2019, described as a “21st century version of Port Sunlight”, the early Victorian example of a social and environmental community created by Lever Brothers, for workers of their soap manufacturing plant.<\/p>\n

For the next three years, SOG formulated a regeneration plan, and submitted a planning application to construct a new neighbourhood called Heath Park, consisting of 545 residential units, care facilities, a conference centre, offices and shops.<\/p>\n

The Heath Park scheme was heralded as a ‘beacon project’ for Liverpool City Region by Mayor Steve Rotheram, who said it was the kind of ‘inspirational project’ which would drive the region’s economic growth. In 2021, Heath Park was promoted to worldwide investors in the UK Government\u2019s Global Investment Atlas, one of just two schemes from the North West and Wales.<\/p>\n

The proposal continued to generate significant support, and even won two national awards for its masterplan, all ahead of planning being granted by Halton<\/a> Borough Council in May 2024. Notably, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) lodged an objection to the plans due to the scheme’s proximity to the chemical complex.<\/p>\n

The HSE makes decisions based on modelling scenarios such as chemical leaks and spills and the potential impact on local residents. However, at a meeting in May 2025, Halton’s planning chiefs claimed the HSE’s figures were 30 years out of date and accused it of ‘stoking fears’.<\/p>\n

\"Artist's<\/p>\n

Artist’s impression of ‘Heath Park’ from SOG planning docs(Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/p>\n

The application was subsequently called in by then Secretary of State Angela Rayner, citing the HSE’s concerns about the site’s proximity to Runcorn Chemicals Complex, situated about 1km from the development site. At the end of last year, a public inquiry was held between September 30 and October 2021, led by a planning inspector who recommended the scheme be refused.<\/p>\n

Large parts of the public inquiry were held in private, with government citing issues relating to sensitive safety and security information, particularly about hazardous chemical infrastructure at the nearby industrial complex. According to the report, the restriction was applied so confidential information, provided by the HSE, and operators at the Runcorn Chlorine Complex, could be discussed without being released publicly.<\/p>\n

The government outlined its rationale, stating: “Following a request by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 23 October 2024, the Secretary of State made a direction under section 321(3) of the TCPA 1990 (\u2018the s.321 direction\u2019) that the giving of evidence of a particular description or making it available for inspection would be likely to result in the disclosure of information as to matters of national security or the measures taken or to be taken to ensure the security of premises or property; and that the public disclosure of that information would be contrary to the national interest.”<\/p>\n

On Monday (March 9), the government published a letter detailing the outcome of the inquiry, and the decision reached by the Secretary of State Steve Reed OBE, who agreed with the recommended refusal. Although the proposal was found to align with the local development plan overall, the government concluded that safety risks to future residents outweighed the benefits.<\/p>\n

The decision placed ‘very substantial weight’ on concerns raised about the potential risk to the safety of occupants, in relation to national planning policy that requires developments to avoid unacceptable safety risks. These are the same concerns raised by the HSE.<\/p>\n

Although the technical information is not published, the Secretary of State confirmed the confidential safety evidence was considered in reaching the final decision. The government ultimately concluded the potential safety risk to future residents was a key factor in refusing the development.<\/p>\n

Responding to the government’s decision, SOG Ltd Managing Director John Lewis MBE, owner of The Heath Business and Technical Park, said he was disappointed by the refusal, but accepts the government’s position.<\/p>\n

Mr Lewis added: \u201cThe Secretary of State\u2019s ruling validates the concerns raised by the HSE and it is now a matter for those in authority to inform the people of Runcorn, particularly all those people living in closer proximity to the Runcorn Chemicals Complex than The Heath Business and Technical Park site, about the true risks posed by the chemicals complex, and the effect his decision will potentially have on the value of their properties.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heath Park was a major regeneration scheme in Liverpool City Region located on the former site of Imperial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,6333,179,285,2516,10003,12147,12551,16,15],"class_list":["post-819443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-liverpool","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-housing","tag-liverpool","tag-politics","tag-property","tag-property-news","tag-regeneration","tag-runcorn","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116212079733101406","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}